Improvement in machines to label thread-spools



i UNITED; STATES ATEENT i OFFICE.

' nnznuntaicoNANu on NVILLIMANTIG, coNNEcrIcUT, Asslcson'ro THEWILLIMANTIC LINEN COMPANY.

IMPROVEMENT'IN MACHINES; To. LABEL THusan-secoI s.-

" Speciiication-forming part cfu-Letters Patent-No. 35,362, dated June10,1862.

" To all whom it may'concern/:-

Be it known that 1,V HEZEKIAH CONANT, of Villimantic, in the State ofConnecticut, have invented anew' and useful Machineffor Labeling orTicketing Spools or Bobbins or Applyfj ing Labels u pon the Ends ofSmall Boxes and similar Articles; and I hereby declarethat thefollowing, `taken in connection with the drawings, is api'ull, clear,and exactdescription In the drawings, Sheet 1 is asideelexfation of 'themachine. Sheet `2 is a. plan thereof..

vSheet 3, Figure 1, is a vertical crosssection through themaehineyandFig. 2, on the same ,l sheet, is an elevation ofthe ticket orlabel i carriage. Sheet 4 is a vertical longitudinal y,section throughthe machine. i

This machine was specially devised for tick- ,eling.sp0ol-c0tton, andmay without change be used for ticketing other articles of cylindricalform, and'withcertain formal change l and additions `may be adapted tothe ticketing on one or bot-h ends of small boxes,` packages,

' &c., of` square, oval, Vor polygonal `,cross-seal.

t-iou."

l The machine, as a whole, is made up of sevleral sets of apparatus,each of which have certain functions, and all-of which, acting inlv 4combination, produce theV desired results.

These sets oi' apparatus, each of themselves or in combination with oneor more of the oth"- vers, also produce. certain distinct steps in' theprocess, and in so far as they-do so' may beusefully `employed. -eitherin building a less complete machine or in 'connection with setsI i ofapparatus which are not the equivalents o'f thoseldescribed, soas tomake Iup a "contrivance having certainfeatures of my presentin-'vention, and as whole usefulfor other purposes.

The sets'- of apparatusl which compose' the. machine are, first,` afeed-ing apparatuswhose function iste `feed the articles `tobetticketed; second, a holding apparatus to-hold the articles inproperposition to be ticketed third; a' pasting apparatus., to `applyrpaste `or gum or other adhesive-mattert-o the ticketsp fourth, i apunchingapparatus to cutthe tickets out of l the sheet on which theyare" printed; fifth, a

dende for,hold ng the tickets after they are1 punched outandfwhilebeingpasted'or gummed vof the various parts are derived f rom a and forapplying them to the spools or other articles, which I call the applyingapparatus. The sixth or last set ot' apparatus l call theticket-presenter. This coutrivance consist's of a frame for holdingthe'shects of tiekso as to present the tickets in proper succes' sionand positionlbr the action of the punch. These apparatus may be combinedinY various ways andfornls to produce the result desired, and themachine shown in the d-rawings is an embodiment of them, iu a manner and`trough"'orway, down which the spools. roll by rforce of gravity, and ofa double gate, which Vpermits one spool to pass and stopsv another.

The trough is shown at c. Its sides c (shown ets, which is caused tomove in two directions,

under forms which I have by experimentalv in section, Fig. 1, Sheet-2)are adjustable, and

M can7 be moved toward or drawn away from the .center of the trough, soas .just to embrace l fspools of different lengths, and the trough atits' receiving end is .mounted on'a pivot, c,

while itis held up at its discharging-end by a lset Screw-c3. iBy thisarrangement the height of the trough can be varied at the Vpoint wherethe punches and applying ap paratus act,, so that the centerv of spools,of

. difi'erentdiameters may be p'resentedbpposite tothe center of theticket. One of the gates is' composed of two pieces, Z d, forked-ontheir lower sides,for a purpose hereinafterspecitied.` -These pieces areattached to arms dd, pivl "oted' atd2 d2.' These arms are one on'each.y

side `of the trough, and vthe pieces d operate iaove the trough. Eacharm has a set-screw, d3, (see Sheet 4,) and the ends of; these screwslie just aboveV the lugs d. These lugs proi ject out from alever, d5,pivoted at d, and

ha'ving'on'itsend` a fork operated'by a cam,

d. This'lever eis-tends uuder'the trough, carries andv moves-thelugs,and is prolonged,and Lhas" projecting upward from it a gate, d".T-liis gate at-certaiuparts of its motion'sticks .upabovel the`u'ppersurface ot' vthe trough applying mcchanisim'the l down by the weights d.These forks might both be in one piece;butt.hcre are often found'certain differences in diameter between the two ends of the'same spool,and I am enabled to center them moret-ruly by using an ind'e- .dependentfork for each end. ln order to .Complete this description 0f theholdingand fecding'japparatus it should be stated that the gate di can be slidalong the lever (Pand adjusted at any proper place, so that the dis-.

tance betweenits edge nearest the forked pieces and the centerofthese'forks shail be equal to the diameter ot a spool and a half. (SeeSheet 4.) A positive springconnection might be made between the lever diand the fork-pieces; butI prefer`to lift them by the lugs acting on thescrewsd and to depress them by the weights, i Aas their' range of'lifting be altered to suit any diameter of spool, and

movement can thus their range of descent is measured by the spoolitself, The spoolsare to be placed in thc trough by hand. They will rundown till one of them strikes the forked pieces. These will lift by therevolution of the cam, and at the same time thelwer gate, d,will lift,one spool will 41he stopped against it, and

will be stopped bythe first. and the forked pieces will then descendtogether, and before the lower lgate descends y below the center of thefirst spool the`fo'rks drawn down by theweights will catch the secondone, hold itdown against the trough and center it opposite the applyingapparatus. The rst spool will roll out ofA the machirlc. When a tickethas been applied the gates will rise, the second spool will be released,will roll against and be stopped by the lower gate, afthird spool willroll underfthe forks, will be caught, held, and centered by them,aud, asthe lower gate descends, the second spool will roll out of the machine.s

This 'apparatus acts to feed very like that used for feeding screws, oneby one, inscrew machinery, but has the new feature that one of thefeeding-gates becomes the moving jaw of the holdingapparatus. The spoolsmay 4rest upon a level trough or` one inclined npward, and bc punchedthrough by a slide vi` brating vat each time the diameter of one spool;

or in some cases the holding apparatus may `be so arranged and movedthat the spools may be vinserted by the fingers one 4by one in the graspof the jaw. `Motion may be .communi- Each ofthe arms d has a pin proorks being held the second spool' The lower gate cated to thegatesndfork pecesnvarous ways; but I prefer that shown in the`drawings." The pasting apparatus consistsvof a hopper. to contain paste,gum, &c., and brush'esteapply adhesive matter to the tickets after they.

are punched out. They may apply it to the spootheads; but I prefer theprecise method described. The hopper is-shown at e. It has two openingsat the lowcrend,one at each side. These openings are closed by twodisks,V c e',

that embrace the hopper, and are covered onl the side nearest theopenings with cloth, felt, or other proper substance. These disks are so.mounted as to turn with a shaft-to which they are attached, and one,and consequentlybot-h of them, receive a slow revolving motion Jfrom anarm, e, by means of a pi n, aratchetflever, pawl, and ratchet wheel.(See Sheet 4.) This' arm*t is pivoted at e, and' moved by aneccentric-rod, c, actuated hy an eccentric, ei,on the main shaft. Thearm exis forked and rises up on both sides ofthe trough, and at the Aendof each-forkis mounted a pastefbrush, e2, made of any proper material."These brushes,as the arm e" (see dotted and` full lines showing e3)vibrates, vibrate with it from the disks to the place where a punchedticketis held.; As the disks revolve they-carry vpaste with.' them outof the hopper. .The brushes thensupplythem selves from it and transfertheir charge to. the tickets,'whiel are held on the points oftheappliers. The brushes then retreat and1 take'a new charge of paste.as large as the tickets and have a smallslit cut in their stocks; ifnecessary, sothatA part lof them can-vibrate past the points' ofthe-appliers.` These brushes can be'mvcdin any way, so long astheytakepasteor gum, Sac., from some reservoir4 and'carry itto and applyit upon tickets or spools.Y This istheir function, and the movementswhichthey goth rough in performing it or the mannerin which theirmovements are produced isimmaterial.

The punching'. apparatus consists'of two h ollow punches, ff, acting inconnection with dies ff andsliding inI guides fifi. The guides, punches,and dies are in the present machine so made that they can be removed andvothers substituted for them, so that the same machine may work upondiffert sizes and-shapes of tickets. These punches are lmoved by leversf 3 f, pivoted at f* 4, which -inft'heir turn are vibrated by calnsfifi, sc-

oured on the main shaft. These cams are so constructed as to move thepunch'esout of thel guides to the dies and into them far'enough to puncha ticket and then to retreat again each time that a spool is caught andccntered,'and

they may receive this motion in any way, the

vfunction of the punches being to punch a ticket out ofa sheet and intoa die.

The applyingmechanism consists of two disks, g y, nearly of the samesuperficies as the ticket, secured to rods'which vibrate inside of thepunches, aut. 1re actuated by levers g'g, pivote'd at g2 g2, andoperated by camsgig3 ou The brushes are almost Ethegiiia. iasnsa.ammontare;gtdea-by the holes.:is;trepar-ehesten@@as :applier has t oneormoresmall; .pinsprojetingfrom it to# Wardthespool to'beticketedf" 'Thelevers that 'actuatetheiappliersfaremade init-.wo pieces4 [eachpivotedat-g., l l `The part nearest the rods of ,theapplierszisvj kept;`npagai'nst the other y part by a spring,1g?,4 secured to that other partat There is afstop' on the'pieceof the lever nearest the canyant thespring foi-ees the part nearest therods againstthis stop. When the.

` atppliers are forced-toward each other and the spooltheyarermovednpby'the springs, and whcnthe appliers with` paper ortickets onV them :strike the spools the springsyield; but thewnal motionof the' appiiers away from' lthe'spool is,I incon'sequence tot"this-construe tion,` a positivelmotion. Asprihg-lever or a spring `inther-'od mightbesubstitnted for this arrangement. l'lhecanis that A'movethe ap-v pliersaregsoshaped that these latter advance i withorjnstafter-the pnnchesimpale the punched tickets "onftheir points'andpress the' ticket against thepaste-brushes ,4 which are The'appli'ers'then-remainst'ationary an int stantand the brushes :move awaytoward thehopper. The appliersIt-hen advancefarther ,and stick the tickets on thespool. When this 'sr'done theyretreat and ,advanceag'aim in time v `toticket'the nextlspool 'in succession.;` If the brushes 'arenlountedonsprings, therest orstop' "in the mnvenientofthe appliers may bedispensed with. The moti ons of the brushes may also ,be y vso :timed"that they shallsweep over ytickets held by `the appliers and thenretreat;

j but I .prefer to 'press' the ticket against a staf tionary brush asthe best way of-covering thel ticket with paste.. f ,Theappliers Amayreceive their motion"V by any appropriate devices, so long as they moveto an extent andiat times so -as to produce theeiect above described.

The tickets applied by this machine are'to .be printed onsheets','(Sheet '1, at f t t, wherethey lare represented by pink lines,)and the ticket- ,presenter is a' frame, 71,inj which the sheets are lobe fastened b'ysprings', such as h', (see Sheet 4,) or by pins or in anyother proper way, and each frame.js'to-havcjprojecting from eachv of its',vert'ical` sides 1a, series offstops, h2 h? h".

'l These stops are spaced from center toeenter t at a .distance ,equaljjtoV that from the center of oneticket t"o thecenterofanother ticket inthenext row but one .below,a`nd it will b e seen that the stops'on'onesideof theframe are oppositet-he intervals between the stops'on theyother side. These fran'ies inust have motions in two`directions ,andarefree'to slide up and down in grooves orguides in ,carriages Thesecarriages licvone o-neach side of the spool to be ticketed and slide onstationary ways It k2. Ea'ch carriage advances toward or retreatsfromthe vmainqshaft through a distance equa-l to that from. the center Vofone ticket in the sheet to th'e centerof the nextfticket in tlie samehorizontal line, commencing to move after one ticket has'beenapplied andcornpleti'ng its motion before the next ticket is.` punched out of--the' sheet. In order toforce the carriages to move `thus there.are-two levers, l l ZZ, on eachsideof the machine. These v levers arepivoted at l? l l2. l and 'are caused to vibrate' by eccentric-rods Z3Z3, each of which is actuated by an eccentric, `Z*,.o`n them'ain shaft.rThere are fonr'eccentricsf four rods, and four L levers in al1 whenspools are'to be ticketed on Allboth ends.. l When -they are to beticketed on vone end only the frames?, carriages, levers, Vrods,&c.,i'may on one sideof the machine be dispensed' with. The cccentricrodattachments to the arms are adjustable,v so that the extent.of 'motion of the carriages may be altered to suitdifferentdiametersorsizes 'of tickets. The eccentrics are so set upon.' the main shaft thatthetwo arms on the same sidev 'of the machine move at the saine time inopposite' directions. Each arm -has pivoted on its upper end a pawl, P.Each pawl has projecting upward from it an arm, (see Sheet 2,)

and the upper ends of these arms on the-same side'of the. machine are'connected byy cords or .chainslf- Each pawl has also a notch in it, intowhich may -take as'pring,.l, .attached to each of the arms Z, andwhenthese springs are in the vnotches theyhold the.pawls tip-and preventtheir action., Eachv pawl hasaiso projecting fromit inward toward thespooltrough apin, l". These pins are acted upon by projecting inclinedplanes or enrvedeams kak, .which are attached to the carriage k k. Eachc'arriagehas uponfit a rack, m, which is -'free` to slide a shortdistance upon the earriage, and these racksareattached to bolts jm@ m byconnections m2 mi. These bolts slide in ff Y grooves on the sides ofthecarriageswhichg contain the frames,I (see especially Fig.` 2f Sheet3,) and one end or other of the bolts-lies.

under one ofthe projections h2 of the frames.-

tickets is in proper line to be punched. -Whe`n allth'eY tickets inarow'are'pnnched out, then i .the bolt isvibrated and the frame dropsuntil itis ca'ught by'an'other projection, Il, on the opposite side ofthe frame, thus holding the frame'in proper position for punching outthe row of` tickets next above. ,t

From' what has been. described it -willbe seen that theticket-,frameshave motion in two directions-Emst, with their carriagesalong the machine from front to rear, and, second,

' downward-the first `motion taking place` after each'ticket except thelast in' aihorizontai row has been punched and the secondario-'- tiontaking place after; the last ticketinfa row 1 mences tomov toward itsfellow. While so moving,the pawl on one arm will be held up by one ofthe springs Z7, and will do nothing,'and -the pawl on the opposite armwill be free to act, Sheet 1, and will move the rack, and consequentlythe carriage and f rames,

` a distance equal to that from center to center of tickets, and whenthe motion is finished the ticket nerrt to that punched, and inthe samehorizontal row, will be in proper position for punching. The paw] inacting position will thus continue to traverse the carriage on its waysuntil a whole row is punched out and applied, when it will arrive'ataposition such as is shown in Sheet l at x. As the actingpawl retreatsfrom this position, as ifl getting ready again to move the carriage, itsvpin Z8 rides up on'the eam'c, and as it rides up the acting end of thepawl is liftedI and caught by the spring ZT taking into the notch. A'sthe pawl is lifted by its pin the cord or chain l5 tightens, and thepawl which was not acting is, by the cord pulling upon it, released fromits detainingspring. This latter'pawl, which is lettered y on Sheet 1,then drops and comes into action. As this pawl y moves toward its fellowit takes into one of the notches of the rack and moves the rack towardthe main shaft, but does not move the carriage. The rack, however,slides o n the carriage, carryv ing with it the bolt, and the bolt isthus Withdrawn from under one of the projections h, andthe traine, withthe tickets, fallsuntil' the lnext projection on the other side bringsup on the'other end of the bolt. A ticket just above the one lastpunched is thus brought opposite the pnnch,and whenit is punched pawl yagain acts on the rack and, now moves the carriage with it, as thebolthas brought up against that end of the carriage toward which the rack ismoving. Pawl y now traverses the .carriage until a horizontal row oftickets is punched out. It is then lifted out .of action by an inclinedplane acting o'n its pin. As itis lifted. out it pulls pawl into Iactingposition, and the latter on its first acting motion traverses the rackand bolt on the carriage,-and causes the frame. to I dropy again inposition for the punching out of another row of tickets. Both sets ofpawls act in the same Wav, and a Frame `with a sheet of tickets set inreadiness is to be d ropped on'ftop of the frame inaction before itdrops be ow the punches. When the uppermost row in one frame is punchedout, the boltslides-and releasesit entirely, and it drops out of themachine. The bolt as it vibrates, however, catches under the lowermostprojec' Hondt, ef the new frame, and thus holds it in a proper positionfor the punch.

Asl have described the action of each set of apparatusII do not deqmitnxccessary to describedheir combined action .at length, but only state,as follows: that spools are fed and centered one by one; that whencentered they are ticketed by the action of the appliers, the.

lticketsv .themselves having been pasted or gummed before the ticket isapplied, and when out of place and another spool is fed -and'cejn-`tered.- As the spools are ticketed in 'succession, the ticketsare, inthe manner before described, presented in proper order and in the ,rightplace for the action of the punches.

VThe sheets of tickets ivveis'machine have the same motionsubstantiallyas the sheetsof copper in some percussion-cap machines, andI intend to substitute as an equivalent' for the chanical'feeds whichwill give the required mot-ion to a sheet of tickets vMy wayof pro-jdncing these motions by .a sliding bolt and sliding rack and projectionson a frame is, Iv believe, new. j I have before stated that thc yfeedingmechanism, composed generally of a tronghor Way and two stops or'gates-one shuttifng'as the other opens, and vice versa-isinqt new and Ialso know that'a paste-hopper combined Vwith self-acting brushes is notbiy-itsel't anewdevice. I do, however, claim as of my 'own invention- 1.The combination of feeding, holding, punching, pasting,applying, andticketfv-prel senting apparatus, all substantially Such as specified,and acting in cmbination, substantially as described. I

2. The combination, substantially as ydescribedof feeding withholdingmechanism or apparatus, and these'in "combination applying mechanismonly,i'subs tantially'such as specified, or in combination with,punchingout and` applying 'such as specitied.

A 3.; Punching-outaand-.applying mechanism,

tion with pasting mechanism, substantially as specified.

tiallyl such as described, in combination with punching tially suchas'specited. v

5. Thecombination of 'punching withapplying mechanism, eachhaving a modeof operation substantially as set forth. 1 .6. Incombination withticket-presenting mechanism, substantially.v suchl asdcscribeda-holdingmechanism,v substantially such as specified. v g., I

7. In combination, la rack, a bolt, and a frame provided withprojections, all substantially such fas specified, and operating-asfdescribed. t

8. In combin bolt, substantially such'as described, in ccmbination withaframe having projections therel omas specified. ,9. In combination, a'rack,'a carriage,A and a bolt and two'pawls provided with propermechanism, substantially such as described, for; causing them ytoactalternately, as specie punches having previously punched'out the ticket,and either the ends of thespools or the the ticket is applied the spoolrolls cris shoved presenting mechanism described. other' nrpfvmechanism, snbstantifaily substantially such as described, in combinav4. .A ticketpresenting,apparatus,V substanl"l and applying mechanism,substan-A ation, a carriage, a rack-anda 10.2 fAUfeeding-trough adjustable toward and,

